Interest in raising chickens, farm-fresh eggs on the rise

Published: Monday, August 12, 2013 at 10:07 AM.

Photo Galleries

This fall, Southern States will for the first time sell 17-week-old hens, called pullets. In contrast to chicks, which have to be raised carefully for months before they can start producing eggs, the $6.99 Hy-Line Brown breed pullets will be able to start laying right away. Some chicks will also be available this fall, Morrow said, and Southern States sells all the basic supplies for raising chickens except for the lumber to build a coop. Those who are interested can pre-order the pullets now, and they’ll be available Sept. 27.

Morrow, who has 10 hens on her 25-acre property in Bessemer City, said that after the initial investment, the time and cost the hens require is fairly small — it takes about five minutes a day to give them food and water and collect the eggs.

Morrow said the people to whom she gives and sells eggs say they are superior to what you get at the grocery store, but she couldn’t speak for herself.

“I haven’t tasted a store-bought egg in years,” she said.

To Learn More

The registration deadline for the Aug. 14 Raising Backyard Chickens class has passed but the North Cooperative Extension Service offers information and advice on getting started. Visit gaston.ces.ncsu.edu or call 704-922-2112.

Every morning, Dwayne Johnson walks to the hen house and gathers more than a dozen fresh eggs in a beautiful variety of colors, from speckled brown and beige to pale blue and green.

But these farm-fresh eggs aren’t actually from a farm. Johnson is raising the hens in his backyard on South York Road in Gastonia, one of a growing number of people in the area who are keeping chickens in suburban or even urban settings.

The Gaston County Cooperative Extension has been fielding so many phone calls about backyard chickens recently that it is offering a class this week for people who want to learn more and get started with a few chicks or hens of their own.

Lara Worden, class instructor, said requests for information about chickens have picked up quite a bit in the last 18 months, and she’s now getting about five or six phone calls a month.

“We get quite a few calls from people who are brand-new,” she said. “They like the appeal of producing their own eggs.”

DOING HIS HOMEWORK

While some people are raising chickens as a way to move toward organic, local and sustainable living, for Johnson the 25 chickens in his backyard are mostly a hobby.

“The ones I chose because they’re beautiful to look at. We wanted a variety of hens,” he said. His hens include Bantams, Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, each of which has distinctively patterned feathers and lays its own color of egg.

Johnson first got interested in raising chickens about two years ago, and spent a lot of time reading and researching how to get started. While a few of the neighbors initially opposed his plan to build a hen house, Johnson said, others were supportive and some of the original opponents have since changed their minds.

He said some may have worried the hens would be kept in a shabby lean-to structure. Instead, Johnson’s hen house is a handsome building that complements the architecture of his historic Rankin Mercer House. Johnson said they spent nearly $18,000 on the hen house, which is surrounded by a brick walkway and hanging flowers.

FEEDING TIME

Johnson puts just as much care into how he raises the chickens, which are not just fed cracked corn but get fresh fruits and vegetables every morning. There’s a pear tree in the yard, and Johnson said he picks the ripe pears off the tree for hens, rather than using the rotten ones off the ground.

“We don’t feed them anything we wouldn’t eat,” he said. “It may be the reason why — knock on wood — our hens have been so healthy.”

The hens’ diet improves the quality of the eggs they produce, too.

“Everybody tells us how amazing they taste,” Johnson said, noting that the yolks are a dark orange color in contrast to the pale yellow yolk of store-bought eggs.

“It is proven that the birds’ diet does have an impact on the flavor and appearance of the eggs,” said Worden, who will cover nutrition as one of the class topics Wednesday evening.

HOW MANY IS ENOUGH?

This is the second backyard chicken workshop Worden has offered this year, and it will cover everything from start-up costs to the differences between breeds of chicken, as well as hen health and even selling eggs.

“We also talk about things nobody else wants to talk about,” Worden said, noting that most hens only lay eggs for three or four years but can live up to 10. “When your hen is no longer productive, do they become a pet, or do they become tonight’s dinner?”

Worden said she’ll also help people determine how many chickens they need, as some newcomers may not realize just how many eggs a single hen can produce.

Worden said she and her husband have five hens in their Lincoln County yard, which is more than enough for their needs and to give away eggs to friends and family.

At peak production, a hen will lay 250 to 300 eggs per year, Worden said. That means her five hens can produce up to 1,500 eggs in a year.

“Even if you have a large family, you can’t use most of those,” she said.

Johnson, whose 25 chickens produce 16 to 18 eggs a day, said he gives away or sells many of his eggs, some to a local caterer.

GROWING INTERSET

Worden also noted that people interested in raising chickens should check with their local government, as some towns have restrictions on how many chickens you can have or set a minimum lot size. Many areas won’t allow roosters.

Still, some people in city limits are getting two or three laying hens, said Brittany Morrow, who works at the Southern States store in Gastonia. The store sells baby chicks every spring, and Morrow, who has worked there five years, said there is increasing interest in raising chickens at home.

“People are moving toward going more organic and knowing what’s going into their food,” she said.

This fall, Southern States will for the first time sell 17-week-old hens, called pullets. In contrast to chicks, which have to be raised carefully for months before they can start producing eggs, the $6.99 Hy-Line Brown breed pullets will be able to start laying right away. Some chicks will also be available this fall, Morrow said, and Southern States sells all the basic supplies for raising chickens except for the lumber to build a coop. Those who are interested can pre-order the pullets now, and they’ll be available Sept. 27.

Morrow, who has 10 hens on her 25-acre property in Bessemer City, said that after the initial investment, the time and cost the hens require is fairly small — it takes about five minutes a day to give them food and water and collect the eggs.

Morrow said the people to whom she gives and sells eggs say they are superior to what you get at the grocery store, but she couldn’t speak for herself.

“I haven’t tasted a store-bought egg in years,” she said.

To Learn More

The registration deadline for the Aug. 14 Raising Backyard Chickens class has passed but the North Cooperative Extension Service offers information and advice on getting started. Visit gaston.ces.ncsu.edu or call 704-922-2112.